Several HireGround staff recently volunteered for a Saturday with Habitat for Humanity, in support of one of our programmers, El Arabi (a regular HforH volunteer). Starting with absolutely no construction knowledge, our group was quickly put to work building walls and assembling beams. With support from the wonderful Habitat for Humanity staff and other (experienced) volunteers we helped bring a family’s home one step closer to completion. Beautiful weather and hard work made this day fun and rewarding. Continue reading Habitat for Humanity→

Have you decided that you have had enough of your current job, you want a change of career? Well, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that the average person will make a career change up to 5 times in their lives.

You’re right to feel a little trepidation however, the economy is not at its strongest position, and there are a lot of unknowns going into a new career. But as Alexander Bell said himself, ‘‘before anything else, preparation is the key to success’’.

This could not be more relevant to a change of career, if you prepare fully you will make a successful change. I have seen it myself countless times, and I have narrowed it down to the 5 most important areas to prepare around. These are as follows: Continue reading How to Properly Prepare for a Career Change→

If you are hiring for tough-to-fill positions and not getting the number of applications you’d like, or are not retaining those you hire, your job posting could be to blame. Making a few changes to the focus of your job ad could attract and keep better applicants, as found in a recent study.

The study, titled “Does Emphasizing Different Types of Person–Environment Fit in Online Job Ads Influence Application Behavior and Applicant Quality? Evidence from a Field Experiment,” is set to be published in the Journal of Business and Psychology. It was based on data from 991 applicants who responded to 56 ads for engineering and project management-based positions.

From the results of this study we’ve pulled four specific elements for your job postings to help attract and retain candidates. Implementing these strategies has shown to make job ads more compelling for in-demand candidates. Continue reading 4 Ingredients for a Better Job Ad→

It turns out that most HR technology users are fairly satisfied with their software, or at least agree “it isn’t crummy”. This is great to hear, as most of us software providers try very hard to make good products and keep users happy! Of course, there remain a good number of people and companies whose current software just isn’t making the grade. The good news is changing software providers is easier and faster than ever with current technologies.

Why make the switch?

Your current system isn’t robust enough. Your company has outgrown your software and has a different list of needs: maybe onboarding, in-depth metrics or support for more users has become critical. There’s nothing wrong with your current tech, but it’s time to upgrade to a bigger system.

Your current system istoo complex. The opposite of the first problem: everyone wants more and more features, but sometimes simple is best. If your current technology is bloated, slow, and confusingly full of options you never use, it could be time to switch to a lighter software that better suits your hiring process.

Your current system just isn’t meeting your company’s needs. Whether these are requirements unique to your industry, budget issues, or a transition to a fully mobile candidate experience, there’s no one-size-fits-all ATS. It’s time to find one that can handle your company’s quirks.

What makes switching easy?

Most leading ATS providers are cloud-based. This software is faster to install and more flexible than a product installed and maintained on your company’s own servers. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), is basically a subscription software, instead of something you need to download and install. For these flexible and changing times, SaaS is best.

Modern and up-to-date providers have written their software with code that is much more versatile than older systems. Customizations, implementation and updates are all simpler to manage and faster to complete.

A warning if you are switching to an older platform: it might not be a fast or simple process at all!

What do you need from your current provider?

Check your agreement and see if you own your data (resumes & candidate information). If it belongs to the software provider, they can use that data and your company may not get to keep it.

If yes – and you wish to store that data in your new system – request for it in a non-proprietary format.

Consider how much data you really need to store. Instead of all existing data, limit to recent applicants, or a shorter date range. This will make the data file smaller, and easier to integrate into the new system.

What should you ask a new vendor?

What is their implementation process like? Look carefully at what type of materials they are asking from your company, and what their timeline is for a typical installation.

Can they import your existing data? How long might this take, and what fees are involved? This is likely to be an extra service, because every ATS system stores different sets of data, and does it in different ways.

The job outlook for Alberta is looking grim, according to Global News. In fact, it is expected to be one of the weakest years for job growth in the past 25 years.

Competition for skilled jobs is expected to be fierce in the coming year. With the cost of oil rising, the big players – and big employers – in the energy market are being more conservative instead of spending money on growth.

Experts say the the government should continue to support projects that create and maintain jobs for Albertans despite the economic downturn, however, it’s too early to say what the strategy will be to keep the employment rate high in 2015.